


How could she not?

by Sherlockinthetardis (junbaitarashian)



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: 50th anniversary, Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Near Future, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-28
Updated: 2013-06-28
Packaged: 2017-12-16 09:44:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/860714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junbaitarashian/pseuds/Sherlockinthetardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>TenII & Rose have a chance encounter with the Eleventh.... a few insecurities resurface, Eleven has some closure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How could she not?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [david-john-macdonald @tumblr](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=david-john-macdonald+%40tumblr).



> Compilation of mini fics written through the month of April 2013 to commemorate the up coming Doctor Who 50th anniversary. (slightly altered from the original post)

1) Rose doesn’t know what to do the moment her eyes meet the Doctor’s. The Doctor has a new face, but his eyes say: so old, so tired. Rose wonders how it all happened, when it all go wrong?-- Then it hits her: The Doctor _died_ …

He is not her Doctor.

*

2) The meta-crisis was staring at himself-- A _new_ self. He knows what has happened and wonders how his previous self met his end. He has many questions for this version of himself, but these are questions he knows he will lie about-- it breaks his heart, but says nothing.

*

3) They were standing there in front of him: his previous self and… Rose-- _Oh Rose_ \-- but it was not possible! Though by this time, he mused, it should hardly surprise him.

Rose though: _His_ Rose…-- and his meta-crisis? What was going on here?

There is one way to find out.

*

4) “Hello Rose..." He says almost breathless like the words don't want to come out, like Rose standing infront of him can't possibly be real. He can hardly wrap his head around it but he must stop thinking because there she is; all pink and yellow in all her beautiful glory. His metacrisis shift where he is standing- the blue pinstripe suit so distracting (had he alway had that effect in that getup?) and it's enough to bring him back to focus.

*

5) "- and hello… _me!_ ” The Doctor greets and rocks on his heals, hand clutching his brown suspenders. He steps closer and with so much precaution-- almost as if afraid that this was all an illusion and Rose could just fade away: He knows he won’t bare that again.

Rose smiles a careful smile and that’s when the Doctor knows: It’s real.

*

6) “Doctor…” Rose is breathless. He sounds so different now-- moves different too. He is dressed different. Rose can’t help but think how much he has changed-- can’t help to realize how much he is not her Doctor anymore.

“Hello,” she says, “we found you.” her smile is wide wide.

Rose cries.

*

7) The Doctor watches as his meta-crisis reaches instinctively for Rose-- just like he feels that want, that _need_ , to be next to her too. He sees how the half Time-lord’s hand molds with Rose’s; their fingers intertwine so naturally.

There is a nasty pull of longing at the pit of his hearts.

*

8) The Doctor watches as Rose turns to his meta-crisis and smiles that bright bright smile that meant-- no, _means_ the world to him. A smile which, he painfully acknowledges, does not belong to him anymore.

*

9) The Doctor half smiles to conceal his pain. Rose turns to him still wearing that wide bright smile and wiping remaining tears.

“New look?” She raises a teasing eyebrow.

“Bow-tie?” The half Time-lord too rises an incredulous eyebrow, “I didn’t know I liked bow-ties”.

*

10) “Yeah I wear _bow-ties_ now. Bow-ties are _cool_.” The Doctor says rubbing his hands expectantly.

“Eeeh, _Welllll_ \--” the half Time-lord grunts, clears his throat and pretends to be distracted. The Doctor is instantly disappointed but then Rose says; “I _like_ it.”

*

11) Rose reaches out to play with the left corner of the tie. The Doctor smiles down at her and looks so smug. Rose smiles right back at him with her tongue peaking out between her teeth and he is so tempted to reach out for her and close the distance.

“ _How_ are you here?” He asks instead.

*

12) Rose doesn’t answer but launches her self at the Doctor instead. She wraps her arms tight around his neck and holds him so so close.

“ _Oh!_ ”

The Doctor glances over at his meta-crisis as if asking for approval-- some permission to hold her. The half Time-lord nods.

*

13) The Doctor holds Rose quickly and tight; tighter then ever dared before-- tighter than he can ever remember. The Doctor let’s out and overjoyed incredulous chuckle. ”Rose, Rose! Defender of earth!-- no! the universe!”-- Gallifrey! how he’d missed this: Having her so close. Feeling her against him.

*

14) The familiar nearness of her body is completely overwhelming, he is close to tears, but he doesn’t waste a moment of it. He concentrates on the feeling of her soft body pressed firmly against his own-- he is acutely aware of the shape of each and every single curve.

*

15) Holding Rose felt right, like he’d always known, so he keeps holding her. He feels the rhythm of her gentle breathing as her chest heaves and hos. He almost shudders at the feeling of her breath brush against the tip of his ear. It is a goose-bumpy feeling.

*

16) He shuts his eyes tight as he relishes in the feeling. River had done that once or twice, he remembers, when she’d had her way with him, but it never felt quite as right as Rose. Reluctantly, he pulls away from the embrace sheepishly & broken.

 _His_ Rose was _not_ really his after all.

*

17) The half Time-lord had stood idle by. He only understood too well how much his new self needed to feel Rose; The comfort of her breath & the reality of her touch. He would not be selfish with himself now, would he?-- Still, he could not avoid the sting of jealousy.

*

18) Jealousy was not at all unfamiliar to the half Time-lord, he seemed to never quite get rid of that trait even with every regeneration. His last regeneration though, the one he was humanly stuck in, seemed to have inherit jealousy stronger than ever ergo passed down to him and he couldn't ignore it.

*

19) To be jealous of even himself-- But not quite himself… It was all too confusing. Still the meta-crisis couldn’t stop it from happening when it came to Rose. Rose was special. Rose was a gift from himself to himself just like he was a gift from himself to her.

*

20) The wish to patronize Rose was strong within the half Time-lord. The Doctor standing in front of him must understand that, he figured-- no, he _knew_. He would not act on it though, because he also knew just how much the Doctor must have missed her.

*

21) Memories of the first time he had lost Rose flooded the mind of the half Time-lord with painful pang to his heart. That time his life had felt like a void: Empty & motionless-- with a painful past to remember and no future to look forward to. None at all.

*

22) The half Time-lord hastily wonders how The Doctor had even made it this far with out Rose. How long had his previous self lasted after he, (the half human, half Time-lord self) had been left behind with Rose at badwolf bay? The answer was simple really.

*

23) His Time-lord brain could come up with the answer in less time than it took for him to blink. It only takes one glance at his new version- the yearning in his eyes as he looks at Rose says it all. Had he always looked that lonely without Rose?

*

24) The half Time-lord is only too glad when Rose and the Doctor break away. Rose returns to his side and his hand seeks Rose’s at once. He releases a breath he hadn’t realize he’d been holding. There’d been a fear with in him. A fear born from an insecurity he never quite got rid of.

*

25) The fear that Rose could choose to choose the full Time-lord instead of a half Time-lord like himself- It had hunted him since that day at badwolf bay. The way Rose had pulled away from the kiss to find her precious full Time-lord Doctor _gone_ \--

*

26) Rose had wept for days and had taken weeks before she could fully come around to accept him as the Doctor … Just slightly more _human_ … One heart--one life. A life where he could grow old with her. A life where he could love her with all conviction and with out reserve.

*

27) Rose squeezes the half Time-lord’s right hand lightly, a gesture she has accustomed to reassure him: Full time-lord or half Time-lord, he was her Doctor. It had taken her time after being left behind on badwolf bay but she finally understood-- he could live a _lifetime_ with her.

*

28) The Doctor doesn’t know where to look when suddenly Rose and his meta crisis exchange a quick peck. It pains a bit at his hearts but finds himself somehow relived. _Rose is happy_ and, despite anything he feels, that’s all that really matters in the end- doesn’t it?

*

29) Rose can feel her heart swell. The warmth and love, all of it, she feels it for her Doctor. The silly strange man that stands next to her, that loves her deeply and strives to prove that to her every single day of her life. The one that could live a lifetime with her... How could she not choose him?


End file.
